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Evan Sharf has some big plans for expanding the newest burger franchise to come to San Antonio.

Sharf, co-owner of Backyard Burgers franchise in San Antonio, opened his first restaurant last October near the intersection of North Loop 1604 and Highway 281 and is now looking for a place around the Loop 1604 and Interstate 10 intersection to build his second franchise. Sharf owns the local burger franchise with his father, Ken, who is not involved in the day-to-day operations of the business.

"I'd love to have 10 to 15 stores here in San Antonio over the next 10 years," Sharf says. "Once we get this one going, I'd like to start opening about one a year."

Such a rapid pace for expansion would not be unusual for the Mississippi-based hamburger chain that has been sprouting up new stores across the Midwest in recent years.

Michael Myers, president and chief operating officer for Backyard Burgers Inc. (NASDAQ: BYBI), says Texas is fertile ground for the growing company. In addition to the new store in San Antonio, Myers says they have a group in Houston planning to open 10 new stores, a group in Dallas with another 10-store deal and a franchisee with a three-store deal in Waco.

"Texas is a very viable market for us," Myers says. "There are a lot of beef-eaters in Texas."

Backyard Burgers, which was started in 1987 in Cleveland, Miss., by Lattimore Michael, tries to distinguish itself by using only 100 percent certified Black Angus beef in its oversized burgers, which at 5.3 ounces are closer to third-pounders than the traditional quarter-pound burgers found at most other establishments, Myers says.

"Black Angus is considered the gold standard of the 57 types of beef cattle," Myers says. "It is what all the steak houses try to use."

First impressions

Sharf says he first learned of Backyard Burgers after reading an article about the company in Restaurant News magazine while working in the corporate offices of Steak Escape, a chain of fast-food sandwich stores that operate primarily out of food courts at malls across the United States.

"I was really impressed with their food and with the overall concept," Sharf says. "I was wanting to do something outside of the malls and this looked like a good opportunity."

Sharf has been in the food business since graduating from the University of Kentucky in 1998 with a degree in political science. He says a friend recruited him to go to work for Steak Escape and he did that for several years before deciding to strike out on his own. At the time, he was living in Dallas and he started looking for a good market to start fresh in. When he learned that his parents were planning to move to San Antonio, he saw the opportunity he had been looking for.

"I've always wanted to own my own business and work for myself," Sharf says. "This has given me that opportunity and I love it."

Sharf says that after he opens a second location near the new La Cantera mall at Loop 1604 and I-10, he will continue to move up and down the 1604 corridor looking for new locations.

Sharf says he worked with State Bank of Texas to finance the opening of his first restaurant and will most likely work with them again in the future. The restaurant currently employs 15 people, and he says he is on track to earn about $700,000 in revenues this year.

Hurricane damage

The Backyard Burgers company had to shut down four stores as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Two are most likely damaged beyond repair, including one in Biloxi, Miss., and one in Gulfport, Miss., according to Myers.

"We had some severe damage at those stores," he says. "The other two are just waiting for electricity to be restored."

Meanwhile, the company's stores on the fringes of where Katrina struck have been doing double and triple their normal business and it has become a real challenge keeping them adequately stocked, especially with the gas rationing resulting from the hurricane.

"We've been very busy this past week trying to keep our stores open and assessing the damage," Myers says.

Backyard Burgers currently has 166 stores in 19 states and is growing rapidly. The company prides itself on serving "Heartland America" food including charbroiled hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, baked potatoes, seasoned fries, salads, cobblers and more.

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